Number of violent deaths in Brazil falls 5% in 2024
At least 38,722 people had their lives abruptly cut short in Brazil in 2024 due to urban violence—an average of 106 per day.
According to the National Public Security Information System (Sinesp), from January to December last year intentional homicides totaled 35,642; femicides, 1,438; robberies followed by death, 924; and bodily injuries followed by death, 718.
Though alarming, the total of murders last year shows a five percent reduction from the 40,768 occurrences in 2023. It is also the lowest since 2015—thus continuing the gradual decrease in intentional violent deaths that began in 2021. From 2015 to 2024, at least 470,760 people were murdered across Brazil.
In absolute numbers, the states where the most murders were recorded in 2024 are Bahia (4,480), Rio de Janeiro (3,504), Pernambuco (3,381), Ceará (3,272), Minas Gerais (3,042), São Paulo (2,937), Pará (2,570), and Maranhão (2,053). Roraima and Acre had 119 and 168 respectively, making them the states with the lowest numbers of victims of violent crimes against life.
The results were updated on Thursday (Feb. 6), on the platform maintained by the National Secretariat for Public Security, of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.
Incidence
Nationwide, the number of people murdered for every 100 thousand citizens fell from 19.26 in 2023 to 18.21 in 2024. In 2017—the year in which public bodies reported the highest number of murders (60,374) in the last ten years—the rate stood at 29.42.
Still in proportional terms, the murder rate fell in almost all Brazilian states, especially Tocantins, where it dropped by 10.1 points (from 25.4 victims per 100 thousand people in 2023 to 15.3 in 2024); Roraima (down seven points to 16.60); Rio Grande do Norte (down six points, reaching 21.65); Sergipe (down 4.70); and Rio de Janeiro, where this same index sank from 21.96 to 20.35 (down 1.61), which, in absolute terms, means that 177 lives were spared in the state, with the total number victims lowering by 3.781 to 3,504 victims.
On the opposite direction, however, Ceará (up 3.15), Maranhão (up 3), and Minas Gerais (up 0.6) recorded small increases in the number of occurrences per 100 thousand people.
In the view of National Secretary for Public Security Mario Sarrubbo, even though the rates are less than ideal, a consistent downward trend in crime can be seen.
“In terms of violent deaths, the data show that the measures adopted by the federal government—such as strengthening preventive actions and integration between the federal government, states and municipalities—have had an effect. With the advance in the use of technologies, improved management, and investments in intelligence and resources, we project an even more significant impact on the reduction of these figures, consolidating a more efficient security policy,” the official statement reads.
Police violence
The data on murders in Brazil do not include the 15,288 deaths with no signs of foul play whose causes remain unclear—or the 39,846 attempted murders and the 6,121 deaths resulting from police action recorded last year.
Bahia recorded the highest number of deaths due to a police intervention last year—1,557—followed by São Paulo (814), Rio de Janeiro (699), Pará (593), and Goiás (387).
The 6,121 deaths resulting from a police intervention represent a reduction of 4.2 percent compared to 2023’s 6,391, maintaining the downward trend that began in 2021—after surging year on year from 2015 to 2020.
